Six-game Thursday slate lights up the ice
Six games usher the KHL back with a bang, from Avtomobilist facing Dinamo Minsk opening a fiery East to Neftekhimik vs Avangard’s clash of wounded Wolves and Hawks, Lokomotiv hosting red‑hot CSKA and Severstal welcoming Salavat Yulaev in Cherepovets, Dynamo–Barys pitting the league’s hottest streak against a giant‑killer, and SKA welcoming Ak Bars for a heavyweight finale in St. Petersburg.
The matchday starts with a hot meeting in Yekaterinburg, with Avtomobilist facing Dinamo Minsk. Both sides lost their last outing, with the Motormen losing to Barys and Dinamo Minsk failing to get past Lokomotiv after shootouts. That means that both sides will be determined in looking for a win at the UGMK Arena today. Both teams retain a spot in the top four in the respective conference, and it will be an exciting game in Yekaterinburg. After today’s confrontation, the Belarusians will return home where they will be playing the next four games after missing for almost a month.
17:00: Avtomobilist (18-14-3, 4th E) vs Dinamo Minsk (22-7-4, 3rd W)
About the game
Avtomobilist enters the fourth game of a five-match home series following a loss to Barys on Tuesday (1:4).
Dinamo Minsk wraps up a five-game road trip after a loss in Yaroslavl also on Tuesday (2:3 SO).
Avtomobilist’s forward Reid Boucher is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Stephane Da Costa, Maxim Denezhkin.
Milestone alert
Dinamo Minsk’s goalie Vasily Demchenko may record his 30th KHL shutout.
In the second Eastern game of the night, Neftekhimik hosts Avangard, once again with both teams seeking a rebound after recent losses. The Wolves fell to Ak Bars (1:3) and Torpedo (2:5), while Avangard lost the Siberian derby in Novosibirsk (2:4) in the first game after the break. It will be the third meeting between the teams this season, with one victory going each side. For Neftekhimik it will be the last game of a long home stand, and the Wolves will then start a three-match road trip that will see them facing the Hawks again next week, on Dec. 24. Today they will want not only to bounce back after their recent losses, but also try to return to the conference’s top four.
19:00: Neftekhimik (18-17-1, 5th E) vs Avangard (21-9-3, 3rd E)
About the game
Neftekhimik ends an eight-game home series on a two-match losing streak.
Avangard is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Sibir on Tuesday (2:4).
The season series between the two teams is 1-1 (1:2, 6:5).
Avangard’s forward Vasily Ponomaryov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 7 (3+4) points over that span.
Avangard’s forward Andrew Poturalski is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
Avangard’s defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points.
Avangard’s forward Michael McLeod is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Ilya Pastukhov, Raul Yakupov.
Milestone alert
Avangard’s goalie Nikita Serebryakov may reach 20 KHL shutouts.
The action then moves to the Western Conference for four matches. In Yaroslavl, Lokomotiv will try to stretch its winning streak in a highly-anticipated home game against CSKA. Earlier in the season, Bob Hartley’s team defeated CSKA twice, but now the situation is different, with both sides in excellent form – both teams won their last three games. With this streak, CSKA returned to the right side of the playoff line, with a three-point cushion over the Shanghai Dragons, who however have two games in hand. The Railwaymen, who just defeated Dinamo Minsk in a key confrontation, returned to the top of the Western Conference’s standings, just one point above Severstal and two above Dinamo Minsk and Dynamo Moscow.
19:00: Lokomotiv (23-10-4, 1st W) vs CSKA (17-14-5, 8th W)
About the game
Lokomotiv enters the second game of a six-match home series on a three-game winning streak.
CSKA wraps up a four-game road trip and also won its last three matches.
The season series between the two sides is 2-0 (5:1, 4:1).
CSKA’s forward Maxim Sorkin is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that span.
CSKA’s forward Nikolai Kovalenko is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
CSKA’s forward Prokhor Poltapov is also on a three-game scoring streak, but with 5 (2+3) points.
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Andrei Sergeyev.
CSKA: Dmitry Buchelnikov, Yegor Fateyev, Danila Moiseyev.
Milestone alert
Lokomotiv’s forward Alexander Radulov may record his 500th KHL assist.
Lokomotiv’s goalie Daniil Isayev may reach 30 KHL shutouts, while Alexei Melnichuk may reach 10.
In Cherepovets, Severstal hosts Salavat Yulaev as the struggle for the top of the Western Conference’s standings continues. It will be the first meeting between the two sides this season. The Ufa side lost its previous couple of matches and slipped down to ninth place in the East, following defeats to CSKA (1:3) and Ak Bars (3:6). After heading into the break on a two-game losing streak, Severstal returned to celebrate with a road win over Lada, with Adam Liska netting a pair of goals. The Steelers will continue their hunt for the conference’s lead. After today’s confrontation, Salavat Yulaev will fly back to Ufa, where they will play the next eight games, including a rematch against Severstal on Dec. 28 and a Green Derby against Ak Bars on Saturday.
19:00: Severstal (24-11-1, 2nd E) vs Salavat Yulaev (14-18-3, 9th E)
About the game
Severstal starts a three-game home series fresh off a win over Lada on Dec. 07 (3:2).
Salavat Yulaev ends a two-game road trip on a two-match losing streak.
Injury list
Severstal: Makar Fomin, Konstantin Shostak, Grigory Vashchenko.
Salavat Yulaev: Daniil Alalykin, Gleb Kuzmin.
Milestone alert
Severstal’s forward Daniil Veryayev lines up for his 400th league appearance, while forward David Dumbadze reaches 300.
Salavat Yulaev may celebrate its 700th KHL win.
In Moscow, Dynamo will face Barys in an intriguing matchup. The Blue-and-Whites are in a hot streak with seven straight wins as the move to replace Alexei Kudashov with Vyacheslav Kozlov paid off and the team climbed up to fourth place in the West, tied with Dinamo Minsk. However, today’s opposition is not to be underrated. Barys already defeated the Blue-and-Whites earlier in the season, and showed that they can beat any team, collecting wins also over higher-seeded teams like Lokomotiv, Avtomobilist, and Avangard. After a win over the Motormen, the Kazakhs returned to eighth place in the Eastern Conference’s table.
19:30: Dynamo Moscow (23-10-2, 4th W) vs Barys (13-17-6, 8th E)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow ends a two-game home series on a seven-match winning streak.
Barys, who defeated Dynamo Moscow earlier in the season (5:2), wraps up a two-game road trip following a win over Avtomobilist on Tuesday (4:1).
Dynamo Moscow’s goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky is on a 90:58 shutout streak.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Nikita Gusev is on a five-game scoring streak, with 11 (4+7) points over that stretch.
Dynamo Moscow’s defenseman Daniil Pylenkov had an assist in each of his previous six matches.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Jordan Weal is on a three-game scoring streak, with 8 (3+5) points.
Barys’ forward Brandon Morelli is also on a three-game scoring streak, but with 4 (1+3) points.
Injury list
Dynamo Moscow: Kirill Gotovets, Artyom Mikheyev.
Barys: Adam Scheel, Tyler Wotherspoon.
Milestone alert
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Anton Slepyshev may record his 300th KHL point (currently at 299).
In the closing game of the matchday, SKA hosts Ak Bars in another highly-anticipated matchup. The St. Petersburg side is in a good shape of late, with four wins in the last five matches, and no regulation losses. SKA is thus climbed up to sixth place in the Western Conference’s standings, with a five-point cushion against the Shanghai Dragons, whom the team defeated in its last outing, but can’t really relax as today’s test will be a critical one, with Ak Bars coming to St. Petersburg. The Kazan side already defeated SKA earlier in the season, and is in second place in the East following wins over Salavat Yulaev (6:3) and Neftekhimik (3:1), respectively.
19:30: SKA (18-11-5, 6th W) vs Ak Bars (24-11-2, 2nd E)
About the game
SKA enters the third game of a four-match home series following a win over the Shanghai Dragons on Tuesday (4:1).
Ak Bars, who defeated SKA earlier in the season (5:2), starts a two-game road trip on a two-match winning streak.
SKA’s forward Sergei Plotnikov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (2+6) points over that stretch.
SKA’s forward Nikolai Goldobin is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
SKA’s forward Marat Khairullin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
SKA’s defenseman Yegor Savikov had an assist in each of his previous three matches.
Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Chmelevsky is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Ak Bars’ defenseman Ilya Karpukhin had an assist in each of his previous three games.
Injury list
SKA: Matvei Korotky, Trevor Murphy, Vladislav Romanov, Nikita Zaitsev.
Ak Bars: Albert Yarullin.
Milestone alert
SKA’s forward Andrei Loktionov may reach 200 KHL assists (currently at 199).
